MaeLyn's Musings

  My dad passed away a couple weeks ago. He was diagnosed with cancer a while ago. He took medicines and chemotherapy and he was in remission for a while, and then one day he went to the doctor for a checkup and learned that it was back, and throughout his body. He started taking the medicines again, but they made him feel tired and awful and weakened his immune system. In March, my dad got sick with the flu, which turned into pneumonia. The doctors at the hospital didn't know if he was going to survive, and so I and most of my siblings travelled to see him to give him a final hug. Meanwhile, my dad decided that if he was going to die, he wanted to do it in comfort, at home.  He stopped taking the cancer meds that were making him miserable and went home on hospice to sleep in his own bed, where people weren't poking at him and waking him up at all hours of the night. When I arrived and first saw him, he was sitting up in a rocking chair, looking tired, but alive. In the next c...

 Once upon a time, there was a sheep who loved to jump fences. He loved the satisfying smack he heard when he landed on the far side of the fence, and sometimes he would land so hard that he kind of bounced when he landed. So he would jump up high, and then come down as hard as he could on the other side of the fence. Can you pretend your hand is the sheep? Hold your hand a little way out to the side of your body, lift him up as high as your head and then make him drop straight down right in front of you. The ground is about even with your waist.  The farmer got tired of having to go find this sheep when he jumped over the fence out of the field where he lived, so he built some smaller fences that he could put in a circle inside the field so the sheep could jump these fences and go around and around until he got tired and stopped.  Once again, can you pretend your hand is the sheep? Make him go up and down and up and down as he jumps the little fences in his field. (Re...

 If you were going to compose a piece of music to represent some aspect of fire, what aspect would you choose? Would it be a raging forest fire? A blazing bonfire? A crackling campfire? I admit I was a bit overwhelmed with the idea of composing a fire song. I wanted something that had some image of fire. It had to show fire's energy, complexity and spontaneity, but I also wanted it to be something I could play. So I chose the image of a small flickering candle, with its glowing flame dancing brightly in the dark.  Of the four elements I wrote songs for, this one was the most challenging for me. I came up with a basic melody only after much thought, but even then, figuring out where it would go from there was a challenge. More than once I scrapped everything I had besides that basic melody and started again. Here is what I have now.

Here is the third piece of music that I came up with in the last few months. When I first started working on "I Wish That I Could Fly", I called it my "air" song. "Listen to the River" started out as my "water" song. At about that point, I was asked if I planned to do songs for stone and fire, too. At first the idea seemed overwhelming, but when my first two pieces of music reached a certain point, I started considering what music for one of these other elements would sound like.  Stone is solid and strong. It provides a foundation; it is a support; it can give shelter. With these thoughts in mind, I composed "Tomorrow Will Be Better". A sub-title for this song might be "So Lean Upon the Rock". When the storms of life beat down and seem overwhelming, take shelter on the lee side of the rock when you must, but plant yourself on a firm foundation and you will gain the strength you need to carry on. (See Helaman 5:12 )

Shortly after I started composing "I Wish That I Could Fly", I began another song, which I call "Listen to the River". I found that working on two songs gave me a chance to alternate which I was working on. If I got frustrated with one, I could switch to the other, and when I came back to the first, I had a fresh perspective that helped me to move forward. The two songs had different time signatures, different keys and different moods that helped give me some variety as well. The image in my head for this song was of someone relaxing on the bank of a river watching the light reflect off the ripples. Sometimes the water rushes over waterfalls and rapids, and sometimes it slows down and drifts, but it is always progressing on its journey to the sea. Again, I am posting it here for your enjoyment, but I reserve the right to make changes in the future if I feel so inclined.😉

Some of you may know that I like music. For the last several years, I've been dabbling in music, arranging medleys of various songs, occasionally creating piano/viola duets that Hannah and I can play together, and just having fun. Some of these have included my Pioneer Medley , my Joseph Medley , and  A Londonderry Duet .   A few months ago, I challenged myself to compose some original music. I started with an idea, and then created the music around that idea. It has gone through many stages, growing and refining. I've put it aside for a while and worked on something else, but then I've come back to it and worked on it a bit more. I like where it is now enough to share it, but that doesn't mean that I might not change it in the future! It's called "I Wish That I Could Fly" and that was the idea I started with, imagining that I could soar up into the sky and leave all my trials and problems behind me on the ground. The thought crossed my mind to add words, ...

Merry Christmas everyone!!! The year is drawing to a close, and I've been thinking about the many blessings we have received just in the last month. Steven finally found a new job!!! It's with a company called IMA that has something to do with insurance. He wanted to start as soon as possible, but the person who will be his manager is on vacation so Steven won't start until January 4th. Due to COVID, it sounds like he will still primarily work from home, but when he can go to the office, it is right next door to Union Station downtown so the commute is far shorter than when he worked at MDC, and he can take public transportation (the company will pay for it) and be dropped essentially right on his doorstep. We have also been blessed these last three months that Steven has been unemployed to have had enough money in savings and food stored up that we've been able to pay our bills, have food to eat, and even have a nice Christmas. (It will still be a huge relief to have ...

The last several months of "safer at home" has meant a lot of time spent within my own four walls. Of course, I'm a homebody anyway, so I'm probably not home much more than I was before COVID and quarantine, but I've had more time with my family around, and less time on the desktop computer that I share with Peter. Of course the usual things like housecleaning and laundry haven't changed much, but I have had a lot of free time on my hands. Here are some of the things I've been doing to keep myself busy over the last few months: Books read:   Charles Todd's Ian Rutledge Series (20 books),  Charles Todd's Bess Crawford Series (9 books),  Jacqueline Winspear's Masie Dobbs Series (Books 1-10... I have 5 more to go).  Miscellaneous Agatha Christy books  The first six or so Lillian Jackson Braun's "The Cat Who..." books  and I don't know what all else I might have picked up to read in an afternoon. The first three above are historic...

I've mentioned in passing a time or two a pioneer medley that I arranged a while ago. (See here and here .) It started out as a piano piece, as I experimented with different pioneer songs, putting them in, taking them out, moving them, changing them, and just having fun with it, and learning a lot about music and chords and stuff while I was at it. This last summer, in an attempt to encourage Hannah to keep practicing her viola over the summer, I made it into a duet for piano and viola. Hannah and I performed it for my parents via Skype, and a few weeks ago we performed it again for Hannah's Young Women in Excellence. (see here ) I've enjoyed the process of putting these together, and I so I thought I would share. I don't have recordings to hear how they sound, but you can click on the links below to see and/or print the sheet music. Pioneer Medley for Piano only Pioneer Medley Duet for Piano and Viola Pioneer Medley Duet - Viola part *Disclaimer - I have no...

The phone rang yesterday, about an hour before church was to start. I answered it. It was the executive secretary of the ward, asking if I could meet with the bishop briefly, fifteen minutes before church. I said, "yes" and hung up the phone. Immediately the thoughts came pouring through my mind. Is it a new calling? Are they going to release me from one (or all) of the three I already have? The Young Women presidency changed last week... does it have something to do with that? I am really enjoying my calling as a Relief Society teacher right now, and I didn't really want to be released from that yet, especially since I've only been doing it for a few months. I could deduce that it wasn't' something really big, because they only asked to see me, and not Steven too. But whatever it was, I knew I would do whatever I was called to do. We arrived at the church fifteen minutes or so before it was to start. The bishop was still in a meeting, so I put down my boo...

I am grateful that my mom taught me to play the piano when I was young. I don't remember her giving me many formal piano lessons; she probably tried, and I wouldn't practice. But, she did teach me the basics, and whenever I had a question about what a symbol or something meant, she was ready to help. I am thankful for my mom and her patience and encouragement. When I was a teenager, I remember receiving opportunities to play in church. I accompanied the Young Women during a musical number in Sacrament Meeting. I played for a baptism. I played for seminary. I am thankful that my leaders gave me opportunities to play, and that they and my peers had patience and understanding when my playing wasn't perfect. I am grateful for the motivation to practice and improve my skills. As a missionary, I came to realize the impact that music can have. I am grateful for a mission president who encouraged us to begin every discussion with a song. I am grateful for opportunities to ser...

Last night we went to Hannah's Spring Orchestra concert. Each year, this concert is held in the cafetorium (cafeteria/auditorium), and it is a chance for parents to hear all three middle school grades perform, and compare how their student's grade played compared to the other grades. The 6th graders played basic selections from their book: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Jingle Bells, etc. as well as a piece called Cripple Creek, which was actually pretty good for kids who have only been playing their instruments for a few months. The seventh graders played more difficult pieces, including songs I recognized from last year, like Sahara Crossing (which sounds kind of like the theme song from Aladdin at the beginning.)  They also played a medley of songs from Pirates of the Caribbean. The eighth graders played last, and their selections included the theme from the Pink Panther, and the theme from Star Wars. They also played a piece called Amadeus, which was written by Mozart an...

Besides Thanksgiving and Daniel's wedding, life continues for the Hiatt family.  Earlier this month, Hannah was part of an orchestra concert, with about seven other schools. Her favorite song to perform was called "Sahara Crossing" and sounded kind of like the "Arabian Nights" song from Aladdin. Peter is really into arts & crafts lately. In honor of Thanksgiving, Peter created a turkey, almost life sized: Josh has been having fun climbing the walls. I mentioned a few weeks ago that we hadn't unpacked the boxes of books yet. The children decided they made great toys and set up a store/library with them. (Most of them have since been either unpacked or covered with Christmas decorations.) In case anyone was wondering, Steven is still job hunting. Hopefully he will find something by the end of the year. :)

A lady in our ward offered to give Hannah viola lessons a few months ago. Yesterday she had her very first solo viola recital. She played 18 songs and did very well! We are very happy with the progress she has made. She also made the programs all by herself.  I accompanied her on the piano.

Did you grow up with music in your family? Yes! Steven has told me that being around my family is like being in a musical; people have a tendency to break into song at the least provocation. We are a very musical family. My Mom plays piano. Both of my parents always sang in the ward choir at church, and my mom has conducted the choir at times. My mom taught me and most of my siblings how to play piano. Some of my favorite memories are of standing around the piano while my mom played, singing songs - especially the ones where we could split into parts. Frequently we would be working in the kitchen to clean up after a meal and someone would start, "I've been working on the railroad..." and before they got that far, everyone in the room would have joined in, some even making up their own harmonies. I loved it! My children sometimes wonder how I know so many songs, because I still like to sing while I work. Sometimes they are songs that they know, like the Railroad song, ...

I love it when I hear a song on Classical Radio that I recognize. There are several pieces of music that I am familiar with: Beethoven's fifth and third symphonies and Fur Elise, Mozart's Minuet in G (you know, the one they were trying to play in the Music Man.), Bach's Sheep May Safely Graze and Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring, Copeland's Appalachian Spring, Musorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Rimsky-Korsakov's The Flight of the Bumblebee, Pachelbel's Canon in D, Debussy's Clair de Lune... and the list goes on. I may not always be able to come up with the name or the composer, but it's nice when I hear a song that I recognize. Last Thursday as we were driving to the library, I heard a song that I recognized. I'm positive that it was the first time I ever heard that particular song on the radio... maybe they only played it because it was April Fool's day, but for whatever reason, they played it. I listened to it for a minute, then asked P...

I posted this video on Facebook last night, but I'm having some trouble posting it here. I think it will work now if you click on the link to where the video is on my Picassa web album. It's cute! From Family Photos 2010